District 5950 Rotarians in Action
North Star Youth Exchange (NYSE) is excited to plan for the August arrival 44 in-bound students from 21 countries around the world. NYSE will also have 33 outbound students on exchange. Applicant orientations are under way in January, 2023. Meanwhile, our current host students are getting access to the full “true North” experiences. They have enjoyed a group downhill ski outing and holiday gatherings. Rice Lake is hosting a “Winter Revelry” event. West Metro clubs are hosting students for activities as they observe the sled dogs and mushers running in the Lake Minnetonka Klondike Dog Derby.
A humanitarian partnership initiated by Rotary Club of Edina Morningside seeks to save lives of innocent Ukrainian civilians impacted by Russia’s invasion by providing a used $1.2 million ladder truck fire engine owned by the City of Plymouth, Minnesota. The Plymouth City Council is scheduled to vote on the donation of the fire truck at its January 10, 2023 meeting.
 
The need for firetrucks and ambulances in Ukraine was a topic mentioned at the 2022 Fall North Star Rotary Zone Institute held in Minnesota. This piqued the attention of Past 5950 District Governor Tom Gump, who is a member of The Rotary Club of Edina Morningside. Gump met one on one with some local mayors, including Jeff Wosje, Rotarian and Mayor of Plymouth, MN. Usually Plymouth auctions its used equipment.
 
If it’s approved at the January 10 Plymouth City Council meeting, the ladder truck will join at least one other fire engine and seven ambulances in a shipment expected to leave the U.S.A. in early February, 2023.
 
“It’s time to stop searching and start serving,” goes the promo. Simple, direct, and anything but frivolous is a new Rotary podcast produced jointly each week by Minnesota’s Rotary Districts 5950 and 5960. The hope is to reach current Rotarians, and engage listeners worldwide in service.
 
Why the title: “Searching for Service?”
 
“Post-Covid is a time for reconnecting,” explains co-host Joseph Kirk, a new Rotarian whose day job is real estate with Sotheby’s International in Edina, MN. “People have eliminated things that don’t matter and are focusing on the things that do matter.”
7 million Ukrainians – most of them women, children, and the elderly – have fled Ukraine since February, 2022 in the wake of Russia’s invasion. Through the Uniting for Ukraine program, the U.S. joins European countries as a safe haven for Ukrainians. 
 
Uniting for Ukraine offers a pathway for 100,000 Ukrainians to come to the U.S. for an initial two-year period. Under this program, a Ukrainian family must have a sponsor in the U.S. who agrees to help them get on their feet. 
 
Alight is working to make Minnesota, Wisconsin, & North Dakota be the standard for welcoming new communities. The goal is to mobilize 100 sponsoring groups by December, 2022 and we are being called to action to help them accomplish this across the Midwest. 
 
Alight is coming to Rotary Districts 5580, 5950, & 5960 because of our reach into the farthest corners of the tri-state region. Specific targeted areas include the Twin Cities and Metro area, Rochester, St. Cloud, Mankato, Faribault, Marshall, Moorhead, Hudson, Fargo, Bismarck, and Willmar, but Rotary members have reach into many more and Alight looks forward to working together to meet these targets.
On Tuesday, September 20, 2022, Rotary members, community leaders, and Rotary District 5950 Governor Lloyd Campbell gathered at Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, for the official signing of the Operation Pollination Pollinator Resolution. The resolution expresses our Rotary district’s willingness to engage in pollinator habitat restoration and education activities. The Twin Cities Rotary EcoClub hosted the event.
 
Photo credit: Jeff Hage.
 
Congratulations to Kaleidoscope Rotaract in Glenwood, MN! Recognized in September as one of 313 Rotaract clubs — located in countries around the world — for having at least five members contributing a combined total of at least US$50 to The Rotary Foundation during the year 2021-22. Rotaractors contributed together, then, more than US$87,000 to The Rotary Foundation, which supports the life-changing work of Rotary members around the world.
 
Since 2019-20, Rotaractors have contributed more than US$462,000 to our Foundation.
 
Rotaract is a Rotary-sponsored service club for members ages 18 to 30. They are usually community-based or university-based and are sponsored by a local Rotary club, making them valuable partners in service work.
 
Rotaract Clubs awarded 2021-22 Rotaract Giving Certificate | My Rotary
 
   
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Searching for Service Podcast - A weekly show designed to help current and future Rotarians find purpose through service!
Steve Johnson head of our Rotary Global Grant District 5950 Steve Johnson head of our Rotary Global Grant District 5950
On this week’s show we spoke with Steven Johnson about Rotary Global grant program. Steve gives us some history of rotary and great data on how the grant programs impacts. Navigator ranks The Rotary Foundation in the top 10 in the world for efficient use of contributions. To learn more visit your districts Global Grant…
Jim Nelson Interview about the Rotary Honduras Service Trip Jim Nelson Interview about the Rotary Honduras Service Trip
On this show we interview Jim Nelson from the City of Lakes Rotary club and former district governor of 5950. Jim just got back from a recent service trip to Honduras.  He talks about how they were able to leverage their fundraising to support great sustainable projects in Honduras.  He explains how water is vital…
Sutton McGraw Sutton McGraw
Sutton McGraw from Edina Noon Rotary club joins the show this week to talk about her recent service trip with her Rotary Club to Guatemala.  She shares great stories about her experience and the impact she saw from the service they provided.  They went down to Guatemala to assemble and provide water filters to places…
John Bodette John Bodette
This week we interviewed John Bodette from Rotary Club of St. Cloud about PreK 4 Success and The Summertime by George free concert series. John share stories and information about how his club launch and grew PreK 4 Success.  You can learn more about this program here: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/50084/page/prek-for-success John also talked about The Summertime by…
Suzanne Kochevar Suzanne Kochevar
On this week’s show we interview Rotarian Suzanne Kochevar about Rotary Community Core @ Lake Street. After the murder of George Floyd, civil unrest and destruction of businesses in Minneapolis/St. Paul’s diverse Lake Street community created a difficult situation for Lake Street Business Owners. Rotary stepped in to help them get back to business, despite…
District Events
 
 
Lloyd Campbell
District Governor 2022-2023